Why is IP important?

Imagine that you have just invented a car.

You are excited to test it out in the real world but you have no knowledge of traffic rules in Singapore. Within 5 minutes of driving your car, you beat a red light and meet with an accident. Your car immediately diminishes greatly in value.

In this analogy, you are the creator and the car is your IP. But if you, as the creator, do not know the traffic laws (IP laws), then you would not know how to properly navigate through traffic without meeting with an accident.

A new economy?

I read a quote once - "We would never have invented the lightbulb if we focused on improving the candle." This is pretty illuminating (get it?).

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While Singapore businesses may have focused on tangible products in the past, more and more today, Singapore businesses have moved into thinking about intangible products - products of the mind, rather than products of the hand.

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To continue on the car (i.e. IP) analogy, while we previously rode on bicycles and we are familiar with the rules on cycling, once we move on to riding and creating cars, we must necessarily familiarise ourselves with the car traffic rules (i.e. IP laws).

IP complements your business.

IP is a complement / partner to your creations / business / work.

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Think about it. If you know the traffic rules (i.e. IP laws) and you have a car (i.e. your business / work), but you just sit in your car, you will literally get nowhere.

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To get to your destination, you need to primarily rely on your skills with your car and the quality of your car (i.e. your business model, etc.).

However, if you know the traffic rules, you can potentially get to your destination faster.

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In simple terms, your creations / business / work must be valuable in themselves - but being familiar and utilising the IP framework can help to unlock and extract even more value from your creations.